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Grand Sauterelle Verte


Grand Sauterelle Verte
Photo Information
Copyright: Morag Hamilton (lebois) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 75 W: 3 N: 82] (232)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-06-13
Categories: Insects
Exposure: f/2.8, 1/101 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2006-06-14 9:24
Viewed: 971
Points: 4
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
•Huge! – up to 5.4cm long (One of the largest insects in Northern Europe )
•A striking and beautiful bright green colour
•Incredibly loud male song - a bit like a shrill computer printer
•The male sings on summer afternoons, well into the evening
•‘Ears' on its front legs!

Like many other insects the GSV hatches from an egg (late spring or early summer) as a juvenile form called a nymph and then passes through a number of stages ,or instars, each one is larger than the last and gradually more like the mature adult form. The GSV may have up to 9 instar stages before the adult. To move from one instar stage to the next the nymph sheds its entire outer body casing or exoskeleton! There is no cocoon or pupal stage, as in butterflies and moths, so the whole process is called incomplete metamorphosis.
Most male grasshoppers produces wonderful high pitched trilling songs by rubbing together (very fast) a series of pegs on the hind leg with thickened ridges on the fore wing – the whole process is called stridulation . The male crickets however, raise their wings and rub them together. As with other grasshoppers and crickets, the male puts on a courtship display for the female, producing different types of song first to attract the female to him and then during courtship proper, each song is unique to each species. Their ‘ears' are on their front legs!
Generally the GSV is nocturnal, although they often become active in late afternoon or early evening and continuing to sing well into the night. This is different to grasshoppers who are more active in the day. They feed on plants and but also other insects, using their impressively sharp mouthparts for biting off bits and chewing them thoroughly - they have been known to nip inquisitive naturalists too!
Info from ; http://www.countryside-trust.org.uk/edge/edgecricket.htm
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Morag,

What a fantastic composition, clear shot of this big hopper. Love all the the colours and shades... Must have been very tricky to take with the shaded light. Well done!

Thanks for sharing,
Tim

Hi Morag !
I love these big grasshopper, unfortunately they are a pest in the garden... They are eating up everything... It is a very nice shot, with excellent colors and exposure, nice sharp details and beautiful composition. just a pity that the head is out of focus, but still a great shot. Well done !
Valérie.

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